Community · Heritage
Historic 1930s Colonial Revival. Main areas renovated 2018.
Our story
A residence, not a building.
Portola Gardens occupies a Colonial Revival residence built in the 1930s, in San Francisco’s Portola district. The columns and gardens are original. The dining room and kitchen are not, they were rebuilt in 2018 around the bones of the older house, with the goal of keeping every architectural detail residents knew, and replacing every system that was tired.
We have cared for San Francisco’s seniors here since the 1930s. Today Portola Gardens operates independently, a single community, with a single focus: the people who live here and the care they receive.
The proportions of the rooms, the natural light through the south-facing windows, the garden you can see from every common area, these are why we have not moved. The renovation made the building fit a modern care model; the building itself is why residents stay.
Timeline
A short history.
- 1930s
Built as a Colonial Revival residence in San Francisco's Portola district, and a home for the city's seniors ever since.
- 2018
Major renovation: dining room, kitchen, and main common areas.
- Recent years
Becomes independently operated as Portola Gardens, under new local ownership.
- Today
132 beds. One of three San Francisco facilities in the Assisted Living Waiver program.
How we run it
One community. One focus.
Portola Gardens is run as a single, independent community, not one site among dozens. The administrator, wellness director, and care partners work the same halls every day, which is how residents come to know their caregivers by name and families come to trust them.
We sit in a quiet residential pocket of San Francisco’s Portola district, one of the city’s safest neighborhoods, secluded from downtown, with a large garden at the heart of the building.
Leadership
Meet the team on your tour.
Our administrator, wellness director, and dining director each meet families personally during tours. We introduce them by name and credentials in person, rather than posting staff details publicly without consent.
See it in person.
The building tells the story better than the page does.